The Homeless Are a Real Problem With Few Solutions (continued)

by Steve Fackerell

Published: January 13, 2010

And you know, I never really thought about this until the recession hit. Wonderful, hard working Americans are losing so much. Families forced to live in motel rooms after their homes were foreclosed on. Losing their health insurance, stressed out to the point of insanity. What if their children get sick? What if the car breaks down? What if...what if...

We watch as bank executives get huge bonuses while we bypass the name brands and try to save on generics. Being threatened by credit card companies and collection agencies, not to mention the hundreds of scam artists that pop up with every new disaster. It all scares me, and I have never really had all that much to lose.

Now that I am thinking about things like this, I realize that I have a perspective that a lot of other people don’t. I live in-between two worlds. By that, I mean I have friends who own their own houses, drive nice cars, people who help me out because I help myself. So I have seen that side of life, but on the other hand, I live right in the thick of a world that Joe Walsh wrote a song about.

When he said that city streets don’t have much pity, when your down that’s where you’ll stay, he was not exaggerating. Even the hard working folks down here will stay down here without some miracle. It sometimes is hard to distinguish between a lazy bum and a person trying hard to recover.

I have been here a long time and I can’t tell at first glance, unless someone is drunk on the street and falling all over the place. You won’t hardly ever see a hard working homeless person wearing the suit and tie he used to wear in another life, but it is all about mindset. I am definitely no better than anyone else, but seeing what I see every day just motivates me to try to set myself apart from some people.

I have recently had a poetry book published. I am trying very hard to start my own business. Small dreams, small accomplishments, but focusing your attention inward and forcing yourself to take a look at who you are will make you realize who you want to be, and you will find yourself making small strides toward that goal.

We should all remember that no matter how much money we have, or how untouchable we think we are, life can change in an instant. There are so many like me that have rotten, low paying jobs. But think about those people who don’t have a job. A crappy paycheck is still a paycheck.

I would love to do more than go to a movie once a month or be able to fill my tank up more than once a pay period, but the reality is that I do have a few bucks to see a movie, and a half tank is better than an empty one.

One of the reasons I wrote this article is because every day I see well-to-do people looking down their noses at me and my 1995 Pontiac Transport, as if to say, ‘how dare you not let me and my Mercedes go first.’ Or the person who snickered at me the other day when I grabbed for the value fish sticks and she got crab legs. Just try to remember that tomorrow she could be applying for food stamps, wondering what the hell happened.

If I can keep perspective on the life I have, then I see no reason why other people can’t as well. The homeless/low income world is a mixture of the lazy, the hard working, former high society and the very talented. Recession, hunger and loss affect everyone. Do what you have to do to survive, but keep in mind that it’s the way in which you choose to survive that will determine whether or not you can live again.

Grab your family and hold them tight. They are your greatest resource. And if you’re in such a neighborhood, look closely at the homeless; at one time, they may have been you. So as bad as things are, they could be worse.

God bless.

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